The War For Ossyria
by Chaos Legend
Summary: The war has raged on for ten years now. Leo is part of the elite dragon knights that protect El Nath, the only safe haven left in Ossyria. But what happens when he gets a new partner and they are sent on a recon mission to find the root of the problem?
1. Prologue

Ergoth cackled. The events that have happened for the past 10 years had built up to this point. The destruction of Orbis Tower, the corruption of the Cloud Parks and even the collapse of Orbis itself had paved the path to victory. The humans only had one line of defense left and even that was about to fall. Even the elite Dragon Knights could not win when they were outnumbered twenty to one on the battlefield. And even if they did, Ergoth still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He toyed with the crimson red orb in his hand that would be his trump card if his horde of undead minions did get destroyed by the Knights of El Nath.

Blasting a hole through a wall in the mine that had been long deserted after a plague that had ravished the population and turned them into mindless poison breathing zombies, Ergoth gazed onto the long fabled Lava Caves. He wondered when the last time anyone had laid eyes upon this wonder was. He floated along the lakes of lava, letting his eye absorb the creatures that thrived on this unbearable heat. Huge red hounds that looked like they had been spit out from the depths of hell growling at his intrusion into their territories, huge fireballs that looked like they were heads set on fire. Fascination ceased and turned into annoyance when one of the hounds spit out a huge fireball at Ergoth. The smile he had on his face turned into a grimace as he waved his hand and the fireball stopped in mid-air and turned around, flying with amazing speed straight back into the hound's gaping mouth making it swallow down his own fireball. It let out a huge yelp of agony as the fireball seemed to expand inside itself, finally causing it to explode, its remains falling into the lava around the molten rock.

Ergoth grinned as he finally arrived at a huge door completely carved out of the volcanic rock, ornate in design. Various pictograms of fire and destruction had been carved onto it, making it seem like some kind of warning to what laid ahead. Ergoth raised his skeletal hand and chanted out ancient words that have been lost to mankind centuries ago. The door gave a huge groan as if it had not been open for ages and slid open slowly. Ergoth cackled as he went into the door, one hand still holding the crimson orb. The conquering of Ossyria was inevitable now and the only question was how long the humans would be able to hold back before they eventually got overwhelmed.


	2. A Fresh Start

Leo gazed upon the wreckage of what was once Orbis. He had started coming here at the start of every day after Orbis had lost all its support and had come crashing down straight onto El Nath. It reminded him of the cost of this war and the importance of winning it. The only reason the mages had managed to change the trajectory of Orbis enough for it to just miss crashing onto El Nath and killing everybody there was pure luck. Still, no one that was on Orbis at that time had survived. It was all masterfully done. The assault on Orbis Tower cut off all backup that could potentially come from El Nath. The Cloud Parks went next, somehow corrupted by an unknown plague, converting the usually peaceful pixies into Death Pixies that were bent on destroying anything they laid their sights on. Before long, the pixies had destroyed all the wind power plants that the people of Orbis relied on for their power. And finally, the siege on Orbis started. With no possibility of contacting anybody for help after the power got cut off, Orbis went down quickly. The fall of Orbis meant there would be no backup coming anymore through the huge ship port that made Orbis famous and the bustling trading place it was known for. It had been peaceful for the past few days. Leo didn't know why but he knew it would not last. It never did.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through Leo's head. "Leo, come over to the Battle Box now. There is a code Gamma. I repeat, Code Gamma. A scout says that there are masses of undead coming about. He put the number at around 500 000 and they are coming fast. They've already almost reached the Wolf Territories."

Leo hated these telepathic messages. It seemed as though something had been crawling inside his head. It just felt, intrusive. Leo broke out into a run. Whatever the case, he needed to get over to the Battle Box as quickly as possible. A Code Gamma meant that the battle was expected to run into the city, causing danger to the entire populace. Everyone would be ushered into their houses and the mages would start erecting their most powerful defensive shields around them. As he ran, he wondered who his new partner would be. He felt a pang of sadness as he remembered the battle two weeks ago where he had lost one of his best friends that had been fighting with him side-by-side ever since he had joined with the Elite Dragon Knights.

It was customary for every Dragon Knight to have a partner that was behind the scenes, either sniping at the enemy or casting healing or protective spells on the Dragon Knight to make sure he did not fall in battle. It was usually a Mage, Priest or an Archer, although during these times with everything they had been fighting being of an undead nature, the partner generally ended up as a Priest.

As Leo arrived at the Battle Box at the top of the cliff in El Nath, he could see that battle preparations had already started. He headed over to the rack of weapons as he pulled down his usual weapons: A huge golden shield with an eagle's head on it and a spear fashioned out of ice that never melted and was almost impossible to break. Stowing them on his back, he headed over to the old man at the helm of a long table. He was wearing a long flowing cloak, completely jet black except the gold linings and was wielding something that looked like a cross between a staff and a polearm.

"Ah there you are Leo. We have found a new partner for you. Extremely promising I might add. I know you are still saddened over your loss but I hope you two get along for the sake of everyone here. This is probably the biggest battle we have had yet and this would be the worst time for any of us here to mess up. There she is heading here right now!"

"Wait," Leo started, "She?!" He could not see how a female could be in a war and battle. They were for men like him. He turned around and the sight startled him.

"Yes, a she. This is Jasmine. I know, you don't usually see a female battling around here but I assure you, she is perfectly capable of holding her own in any battle."

"This is ridiculous! She doesn't even look as if she can walk half a mile without collapsing. And has she even been in a proper battle before?" Even as Leo was criticizing Jasmine, he couldn't help but notice that she was quite attractive. She had long flowing red hair and piercing green eyes. And despite himself, Leo could not help notice that Jasmine's body was not as wimpy as he made it out to be. She had toned muscles and her body did not have a trace of fat on them. Leo shook his head slightly. He couldn't start thinking about these things now. There was a battle coming up. But despite his protests, he had to admit that it had been a long time since he had proper companionship.

Now it was Jasmine's turn to speak up. "Excuse me! I may not be a man but that does not mean you can regard me as completely useless on the battlefield. I bet that I could wipe your face in a one-on-one duel. If you don't want to be my partner, fine! You don't have to make such a big fuss about it."

"Yes wel-"

"ENOUGH!" A crash of thunder resounded through the structure even as the staff left the floor. Heads everywhere turned and stared. "Here we are with almost half a million undead knocking at our door and all you care about is your sexist attitude. I don't care how; you two WILL work out your problems and WILL be partners. We don't have the time or luxury to have arguments right now."

Leo had to admit, he was right. They didn't have time. They were already outnumbered as it was and would need all the help they could get.

"Leo right?" Leo looked up as he saw Jasmine extending her hand. "Why not we put that argument we had just now behind us. Have a fresh start?"

Leo gripped her hand tightly. "Fine. Let's hope our partnership will be a good one. To a fresh start?"

"To a fresh start."


	3. Drastic Measures

As Leo ran through the snow with the other Dragon Knights, his thoughts kept wandering back to Jasmine. He shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts. He had to be at his full concentration in battle and could not afford to waver even a little. As he neared the cliff that lead to the valley below, he could only gasp as he saw the hordes of undead marching from the north. They looked like a plague, swarming the entire snow and covering it in a blanket of pure black armor, with only the occasional glisten of a sword. Leo took a breath and jumped. He never got tired of the feeling of freefalling off a cliff. The breath that got knocked out of his lungs and the rushing of adrenalin. He landed perfectly, landing on all fours, crouching like a cat.

They would take their position just at the entrance of the valley with the priests at the back ranks healing them of any injuries they received and buffing them up with protective spells. Forming a phalanx, they would fight the undead head on, the narrowness of the valley limiting the number of undead crowding on them at one time. As the undead drew closer, Leo breathed in as he invoked the energies of the dragons of their namesake. He could feel energy coursing through his blood as he somehow felt stronger, even as energy started to drain from him. He looked backwards at Jasmine, making sure she was in position. He would have to literally put his life in her hands. Whatever wounds were inflicted, she would have to heal it or he would be dead. Or join the ranks of undead. Neither were very promising options.

Leo drew his shield and his spear, getting ready as he saw the first signs of the undead rushing on. Placing the shield in front of him and the spear on top of the shield, he braced himself for the first impact. He had never felt anything like this. The undead stampeding alone felt like there were a million yetis pounding their fists on the ground. And the impact. The impact of the undead against the shields of all the Dragon Knight's. The sound alone was groundbreaking. The force they hit with was enough to break bones. Leo grunted as he started getting pushed back by the sheer numbers of undead. He heard a vague yell of "PUSH!" Even now, this early into the battle, Leo could already feel the surrounding environment fade away as all his concentration was diverted to the battle at hand. He mustered all his strength and started pushing. Somehow, against all the odds, they were actually winning. As they pushed their shields, their spears edged forward till they impaled against the undead warriors. With the undead distracted, now was the time to strike. All thoughts of defense were gone as the Dragon Knights charged forward, dropping their shields, yelling out war cries. Now, the battle was just beginning.

Leo charged forward, slamming his spear into the nearest undead soldier and started spinning in a circle, smashing that one undead soldier into a dozen others, shattering them into just bones. He jumped up and smashed down into the ground, as a translucent blue dragon wrapped around his spear , instantly decimating many more undead. It seemed like it was endless, every undead slain was replaced instantly by another five. Even then, the Dragon Knights were still near unstoppable. Every wound that they received would be almost instantly healed by the priests. Leo had to admit, Jasmine did make a pretty good priest, despite his protests to the contrary earlier. A dragon head appeared on his spear once again, as he stabbed through a bunch of undead, shattering them. Even then though, they were still after all, humans. They would tire eventually. The undead on the other hand, just kept coming. The ranks of the undead stretched on for miles, and there seemed to be no end to them. All could be seen one mass of black.

It seemed as though days had passed and still Leo kept fighting on. It was true he was starting to tire but he could still kill undead. He stabbed through more undead, and felt a sudden piercing in his shoulder. And his chest. He had been stabbed by two undead soldiers. He tried to slash but his vision started to blur… He could not see them properly. They were coming in for the kill. A bright light flashed as the skeleton soldiers were reduced to dust. He vaguely saw a blue light flash in front of him as a figure appeared. An angel perhaps? Maybe he had died already. He felt a piercing pain as the two knives were pulled out of him. Fine. Maybe not quite dead yet. He felt his flesh knitting back together, the venom receding from his wounds. He saw Jasmine, standing over him hands glowing green.

"You almost died. The poison in those blades was extremely deadly. They act within a minute. Thank goodness I was there to heal you and extract the poison before you…"

Leo felt a stab of fear as he saw an undead creeping up behind Jasmine. "Look Ou-" Before the words came out of his mouth Jasmine had already waved a hand, a flash of light, and the undead was already flying backwards, crashing into it's comrades.

Leo felt his head tingle again, a voice echoing inside it. "Dragon Knights, we cannot take this much longer, everybody is exhausted. We need to retreat. At least delay the undead for a few days. You know what to do."

Leo did know what to do. He always hoped it did not come to this every time they fought here. This was the first time they had to retreat. As in any strategies, there was always a plan B. The Dragon Roar was the greatest weapon in the Knight's arsenal but came at a great cost. It drained the Knight using it of almost all his energy. He gathered all his energy as he stabbed his spear into the ground, willing the strength of the dragons to come to him. All the other Dragon Knights started doing the same, looking up to the heavens, starting to glow eerily purple. All of them mentally connected, they opened their mouths at the same time, letting out a massive roar that even the stampede before could not rival. The undead got blasted backwards and the snow started to rumble, as it started rolling down from the mountains into the valley in a massive avalanche. Whatever undead that had been spared the sonic assault were immediately crushed under the growing pile of snow, and the passage through the Ice Valleys was now completely blocked.


	4. Something More

Leo groaned. The aftereffect of the roar from previously was still lingering. He was having a splitting migraine and had difficulty taking in anything that was being said at the table. He still could not believe that they had been overwhelmed. Never in history had the Knights been defeated in battle before. Even now, they could not delay the undead for long. 4 days, 5 maybe before they were able to claw through that snow and continue on their warpath into El Nath. They had to formulate a strategy and execute it before then. Leo was not looking forward to it. What he was looking forward to was a nice soft bed and a good night's sleep.

Apparently, the fates did not want to grant him a good night's sleep. He was jolted back to reality by shouting and cursing from above. He could hear footsteps rushing down the staircase and moments later, a mage emerged from an attic of sorts, the makeshift "base" for the mages to congregate and do whatever mages did during the war. Truth be told, Leo didn't even know what mages did while they were not throwing spells during battles. The mages were very secretive about their arts anyway. They considered their secrecy their reason for success and got very uptight when anyone so much as tried to find out what they were doing. Leo resisted the urge to snort in disgust.

The mage ran to the head of the table and a hushed conversation took place. Leo strained to hear what they were saying but they were speaking very softly and to top it off, the buzzing in his head was driving him insane. He could not pick up much, a few stray words, nothing that could make much sense. Leo groaned again. He fumbled around in his armor and drew out a bottle of dark purple liquid. He hated taking them. They tasted bitter and the taste was left lingering on the tongue for days on end with nothing being able to wash it off. But they had never failed to heal or cure any ailment he had before. If his headache did not stop and he got that taste on his tongue for nothing… Leo did not even want to think about what he would do to himself. He took a swig of the elixir and his head started to clear almost immediately. Leo knew from painful experience that he needed to drink the entire bottle or else the symptoms would just come back. A lot worse. He downed the entire bottle resisting the urge to gag and splutter the elixir all over the table. At least his headache was gone. He looked back to the head of the table. The two mages still had their heads hunched down, discussing in low voices.

A few minutes passed. The mages raised their heads and the messenger ran back up. The remaining mage stood up, and the whole room suddenly went quiet. Akili (A/N: Pronounced ah-KEE-lee) somehow always managed to get the attention of the entire room. It was like he had an aura of some sort that captivated whoever was listening to him. Leo wondered what was happening that had him so worried.

"Dragon Knights. You managed to stop the undead moving forward for a few days by sealing off the valley. I fear that we may have under-estimated our foes. The mages have been scrying at a few different locations at intervals and now, creatures have been sighted on the way to help the undead. I know it has never happened before, but now, we have to prepare for the worst. With Bains and Effies melting the ice, it will take only slightly less than two days for them to get to us. We need to prepare. This time, we have to drive them back or the entire town is doomed and so is any chance of restoring Ossyria to the glory it was twenty years ago. We will go back to the valley and prepare. Any chance of us winning will be at the valley, where we have the advantage of terrain. This time, the mages will be there to provide backup. These are drastic times, and drastic times call for drastic needs. My knights, fight well, and may god bless us all."

Leo resisted the urge to applause even as Akili left the table. That man had a way with words. His speeches had way of having an effect on you whether positive or negative. He stood up, pushing the chair back into the table as he did so, somehow feeling that the battle would not end off well.

"Leo?" Leo looked around to see Akili. "I need your help. Follow me. Jasmine is already upstairs waiting."

Upstairs? Leo wondered what business they would have upstairs together with the elemental mages. Then he remembered that Akili was an Ice Mage as well. He followed Akili upstairs into what the mages called the Arcane Sanctum. He remembered the first time he heard that name he thought it so ridiculous that he thought his friend was joking. He soon discovered that mages were not very good at naming things. As the trapdoor opened and he stepped up, he was amazed by the place. Never had he seen a place like it. The walls were lined with books, and there were tables everywhere with mirror-like objects on top. When Leo passed by them, it looked like they were showing some sort of lava cave. There were arcane runes on the floor, with strange diagrams and mages chanting over them. Now Leo realized why the mages were so secretive about what they did. The things they did here… People could kill for this kind of knowledge.

This place seemed a lot bigger than downstairs. Leo didn't know if this was because of magic or it was really that way. He followed Akili all the way to the back of the Sanctum, into a small chamber. Inside there was a small table with three chairs. Jasmine was already sitting there, a look of curiosity on her face.

Akili pulled a chair, sitting down and motioning Leo to sit down. As he sat down, Akili started speaking. "Leo. Jasmine. We have a problem on our hands. Leo, you heard what we happened downstairs but I will repeat myself for the benefit of Jasmine. For some reason, whoever is controlling the undead have managed to get hold of the local wildlife as well and he is using it against us. Of course, this also means that they will be through here in one or two days. It seems impossible I know, which is why I need you two to investigate where this guy is getting his power from. Our mages still can't detect anything but for now our only lead is that the monsters are coming from the mines up north. We think that there is a lava cave up there, explaining the Bains joining the undead. You two show the most potential I have seen in years. I am sure you can do it."

"But the Dragon Knights, I can't just leave them he-"

"Trust me; one person will not make much of a difference. Whether we like it or not, we WILL be overrun. It's only how long we can hold them off. Which is why I want you to leave tonight, we need to make haste. I will teleport you to the second Ice Valley. I can't teleport you any further because barriers seem to have been erected to prevent us from teleporting past there. Pack only the essentials with you. I will meet you at the entrance of the Battle Box in two hours at 8."

Leo did not see any point in arguing. Something was in Akili's voice that seemed to say that it was final and there would be no way of getting out of this. Akili rose from his chair and walked out of the chamber, leaving only Leo and Jasmine. He glanced towards Jasmine, realizing that she had not spoken throughout the entire briefing.

"You've been quiet."

"Yeah..."

"Something bothering you?"

"Well... The plan seems simple enough."

"Then what is it?"

"It's... Akili. I think he's hiding something."

"Why?"

"I can't shake the feeling that something's off. Like he left something out intentionally."

Leo shook his head. "No way. Akili wouldn't leave out anything important. He is like a father to all of us Dragon Knights. He wouldn't send us into something without making sure we know everything first."

"Well, let's hope your judgment call is right and Akili knows what he is doing sending us to get to the bottom of this. Anyway, we only have two hours. We better get down to gathering all our items."

Jasmine rose from her chair, walking out of the chamber. Leo sighed. There seemed to be something in the conversation that unsettled him. He rose from the chair, following Jasmine out of the chamber.


	5. Strange Occurances

Leo and Jasmine were teleported right near the ending of the Ice Valleys. As Leo looked around, he caught sight of the huge mountain they were supposed to climb. Right at the peak laid a zombie-infested mining town. One day, a plague had spouted out somewhere in the mines, turning the miners there into zombies. The zombies were killed but the plague still stayed on in some of the miners that were not affected by the plague but could carry it. Soon, it spread to the entire town's population. The town was so deep into the plague that it had become self-replicating. When a zombie fell, another would rise out from the ground and take its place. There was lots of speculation what had happened there but there was never actually any solid proof on exactly what had happened and no one had ever found any solution to the problem of the zombies.

Leo wondered what they would find at the top of the mountain. He didn't know whether to be thrilled, scared or even proud over the choice of him and Jasmine for this recon mission. He wasn't even sure if he was just supposed to report back or to eliminate whoever was causing this. Come to think of it, they weren't even sure of what they were facing after ten years. What made them think that this lead was it?

Leo's train of thought was interrupted by shudders of the ground and a growl. Leo recognized the growl immediately as that of a Werewolf, but since when did Werewolves cause earthquakes? As he looked around he got his answer as a huge white beast, a Yeti with a blue colored penguin on top was lumbering towards him together with a Werewolf. As far as Leo knew, the Yeti and Werewolf territories were far apart and usually did not cross, and he had never heard of them hunting together before. So why were they coming towards them now? The werewolf suddenly gave a huge roar, as if seeing Leo for the first time, charging forward, claws extending. The Yeti seemed to give a similar reaction, except it was much slower than the Werewolf even though the penguin riding it seemed to be spurring it on.

Leo drew his spear and his shield. "Jasmine, you stay behind and buff me. Heal me if I get injured." Leo took off in a run, jumping and twisting as he avoided, the Werewolf's claws, heat rushing through him as his blood got infused with the energy of a dragon. He directed his spear down, stabbing straight into the Werewolf's shoulder even as he used it as a launching point to vault straight into the Yeti. The vital weakness of the Yeti was that it was so accustomed to being ridden on by Pepes that it could be controlled if a person knew how. Leo angled his body as his spear impaled straight into the Pepe, hoisting it off as he climbed into the wooden seat on top of the Yeti. He swung his spear as the dead penguin flew straight into the charging Werewolf, distracting it for a moment. Leo took advantage of that second as he plunged his spear into the Yeti, provoking a roar of pain. Leo pushed the spear forward, driving the Yeti tumbling blindly forward, smashing into the Werewolf. Leo pulled his spear quickly out of the Yeti as he smashed his spear straight through the Werewolf's brain, rendering it effectively dead. The Werewolf slumped to the floor as Leo pulled the spear out. Leo fumbled around in his side pouch, after awhile pulling out a rope and tying it around the Yeti.

He jumped off the Yeti, still gripping tightly to the rope. He looked at Jasmine to see a look of disbelief on her face. "You know how to tame a Yeti?!"

Leo shrugged. "Well, it isn't really taming per se… Some Yeti's are so used to control by Pepes that if you know how to handle them they think you are their master and will follow you. So… Do you want a ride up the mountain or are you going to hike your way up?"

The Yeti trudged up the mountain as Leo brooded on what had just happened. The werewolves were lone hunters and would never team up with even its own kind to go hunting, let alone a long-time enemy. What was going on here that could cause something so drastic to happen?

He turned around to look at Jasmine. "Jasmine. Did you learn anything about the ecosystem of Ossyria while you were studying to be a priest?"

Jasmine paused thinking "Yes we did touch upon it a little. Not too much though I think I can vaguely remember the lessons…"

"The Yetis and Werewolves. Any idea why they're suddenly acting like that? Doesn't it seem kind of strange that their working together when they usually kill each other on first sight?"

"It would have to be something really major… Like a terrain change or a lack of prey for them to even converge from their different territories. But to hunt together it would have to be something lik-" Jasmine was cut off as an explosion rocked the snow and sent both Leo and Jasmine jerking off the Yeti.

Columns of fire started emerging from the ground in massive explosions even as Leo struggled on the ground, trying to catch his breath and get up. Even as he got up, he felt something fly inhumanly fast past him. He saw a dent in his armor before the pain an effect set in half a second later. He doubled over in pain as if a Yeti had just smashed both its huge arms against him. He dropped down to all fours onto the snow gasping for air. Another column of fire flew up just missing him by inches, although the explosion was enough to throw him backwards. Leo felt himself losing consciousness as he saw a vague figure appearing before him crouching down and gripping his arms…

Leo groaned as he stirred. His body felt like it was on fire. He opened his eyes a crack and realized that he was up against a wall. He tugged his arms experimentally. Tied fast against the wall. He looked around and caught the eye of a person dressed in a black colored tattered top and a kilt. The bandit in question picked up his Dragontail, a circular golden-silver object that was favored by many thieves because of the versatility. He strode over to the Dragon Knight, looking at the huge dragon emblazoned on the front tracing it carefully with one finger.

"A Dragon Knight so far in the mountains?" He smirked. "I thought they were supposed to be the best. How did you get captured by a mere bandit like me? No matter. I have no need for you anyway. The weapons of you and your friend over here will get me some good profits. The monsters are getting strange and I don't really want to do this to another human but I have no choice. I don't want to starve you know."

"So what, you're going to leave us here to die?"

The bandit just shrugged and walked away. Leo growled. He looked around and saw Jasmine tied up next to him, still unconscious. Unbeknownst to the bandit, the ropes tying Leo down were already starting to fray. The essence of the dragon flowing through his blood caused his temperature to skyrocket, the heat causing even the rope to start burning out. Even as the heat started to drain his energy, Leo smiled. He could probably break free now and pin the bandit to the ground before he realized. He tugged on the strings a little, the small force alone already completely snapping the string. He charged forward drawing a small red colored kantana from a sheath in the side of his armor as he did so. He raised his sword to strike the bandit, Even before he could swing the sword properly, the bandit spun around, raising his Dragontail to parry the blow.

"Really, for a Dragon Knight I expected more of you. You expect to beat ME with that puny sword?" Leo swore as the bandit seemed to fade before his eyes.

There was a faint whoosh behind him as Leo instinctively rolled away, the bandit's dragon tail cleaving the air where Leo's head was a fraction of a second before. He didn't stand a chance if he didn't get his spear back. This kantana was merely his backup weapon and even though he could use it to some extent it did not match his mastery of a spear. He glanced to his right and saw his Fairfrozen lying abandoned on the floor. He flung his kantana towards the charging bandit, hoping that it would distract him long enough for him to grab his spear. He dashed towards his Fairfrozen but the bandit was faster. He seemingly appeared out of nowhere as he appeared in front of the Fairfrozen, grinning.

"Checkmate, Knight."

Leo lashed out with surprising speed and dexterity as he sweeped the bandit's feet from under him, causing him to tumble onto the floor. Leo pinned the bandit down and twisted his right hand, relieving him of the Dragontail. Leo panted, the Dragontail now in his hand and against the throat of the bandit.

"Check your chessboard again. I checkmated you."


	6. Unexpected

The arrogance faded from the bandit's face as fast as the color drained out of it. Questions raced through Leo's head as he decided which to ask the bandit first.

_Well, might as well go with the most obvious one first. _"A few things I need to ask you. First off, what happened to the Yeti?"

"Dead. With the Yetis teaming up with the Werewolves, the horns and fur are going to skyrocket. I wasn't going to exactly pass up the chance for quick money."

Leo groaned. Without the Yeti the journey would be that much harder. There was a silver lining to this cloud though… The bandit probably spent his entire life here and knew this place better than both him and Jasmine. There were other things he needed to ask him first though. "You said something about the Werewolves teaming up with Yetis. How long has this been going on? Do you know what is causing it?"

"A few days. The monsters have been acting really weirdly lately. I even saw Bains running through here. I didn't even know they existed on Ossyria. And to your second question, no, I don't know what is happening. If you really want to know though, I probably know where you can get information."

Leo heard stirring behind him. Turning around, he realized that Jasmine was still tied to the wall and was starting to wake. "Hold on to that thought for a moment. I am going to cut her free. Don't even think about running away because I will not hesitate to kill you. After all, that's what you were going to do weren't you?" Leo smiled. "Besides, let's see how long you last in these mountains without a proper weapon."

Leo stood up and strode over to the wall, slicing the ropes with the Dragontail. He quickly caught Jasmine as she slumped forward, setting her down on the ground. Jasmine moaned as she sat up slowly.

"Wh-where are we?"

"I am not sure exactly where. Thanks to our friend here, who managed to kidnap us and kill our most convenient form of transport." Leo motioned towards the Bandit, already getting up and brushing the snow off him. "Which reminds me, I still have a few more questions to ask him." Turning towards the bandit yet again Leo asked. "Now, tell me about where I can get the information."

"Normally, I would not even bother raising this idea up but since you seem so desperate to know what is happening to this place, I guess you would want to give it a try no matter what. Besides, I don't want to be left for dead without a weapon. I might as well follow you, if not just for the fact that there is more protection in groups. Yes, I do know something that supposedly has the answers to everything." Some of the cockiness that the bandit had was already back.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Sure, and pray tell who this Supreme Being is?"

"Notice how I said something and not someone. It's a rock actually. It only gives answers to those who it itself deems worthy and requires a Dark Crystal to draw its magic. Of course, I don't actually THINK anyone has been deemed worthy before."

Leo sighed. It was worth a shot. It was the only lead they had and at this point. "Ok, do you know where it is?"

"Of course I do. What, you think I will actually suggest some place without knowing where it is? I may be many things but suicidal isn't one of them. If we start now, we probably can reach there by nightfall tomorrow. You know, it is at points like these where I sometimes regret making some choices. Killing that Yeti was one of them."

They had been walking for hours ever since they woke up and started off at dawn. The sun was already setting in the horizon.

"Just a little more… The Holy Stone is only beyond this hill."

Leo wondered why Akili had even chosen them for this mission. He would feel so much more useful back at El Nath fending off enemy lines.

"By the way, have you figured out how you are going to get the Dark Crystal for the sacrifice yet?"

Leo pointed at the two crystals on each shoulder pad on his armor. Those together with the emblazoned dragon signified his status as a Dragon Knight. "Those are Dark Crystals. I don't think signifying yourself as a Dragon Knight will be much use around these parts while socializing with monsters so I am pretty sure ripping off one Dark Crystal should be ok."

He walked along a cliff on the mountain, already spotting his prey. He drew two parts of a crossbow, snapping them together before stringing it. He was the ideal choice when it came to eliminating people. He wondered why people even hired those flashy assassins. The only thing they did was tarnish the true art of assassination. An assassination essentially was a quick, swift kill. Not some person dressed up fancily jumping in front of the target and shooting easily avoidable stars. Still, he had to admit, his services were quite costly even though the rewards were well worth it. He was officially a Crossbow Master, a master of the crossbow. He fancied being called a Sniper though. It sounded so much more professional, not tacky like Crossbow Master.

The sniper was going to be rewarded handsomely, and he only had to take out two people. Something was off though. They were supposed to be alone but there was another person travelling with them. No matter, he would make a clean job out of it, wiping them all out. He took out a crossbow bolt and attached it to the crossbow. Steadying his crossbow, he pulled the trigger.

Leo walked along slowly behind Jasmine. The bandit walked in between in case he tried to escape, obscuring his view of her. He sighed. The shield and spear seemed heavier in his hands than they had ever been before. The bandit stopped and ducked suddenly, as Leo heard a loud crack coming from his right. His eyes darted sideways as he saw a streak of blinding sheen fly towards him. Instinctively, he jumped to the left. The arrow hit the spot he occupied only an instant ago. Several stalagmites erupted from the ground as Leo realized he could have been encased in them had he hesitated to jump. He had miscalculated, putting too much power into his jump. He smashed against the wall of the opposing side of the valley, the heavy shield falling from his limp fingers. Dazed, he stole a glance at Jasmine. She was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye, Jasmine spotted a pale blue circle of light. She knew it well, having seen it used many times when she joined the professional Bowmen for archery lessons, a part of her Holy Arrow training course. Six light blue arrows, like shards of gleaming crystal, burst from the center of the circle, speeding toward Leo. It was instinctive. Her teachers had taught her well. Her staff melted into bow of pure light as she raised it, a shining arrow forming beneath her fingertips. She let it loose, praying her aim was true. The shaft of holy energy collided with the bolts of ice, the bright explosion destroying most of the ice arrows. The explosion echoed through the narrow valley. Jasmine concentrated on the area behind where she had seen the circle, hoping the diversion would be enough to distract their would-be assassin. Her entire being was bathed in blue light for a split second before she vanished.

The light faded as Jasmine found herself behind the sniper. She could vaguely see Leo over the sniper's shoulder, as well as a dark shadow darting back the way they had come. A glint of gold appeared next to the shadow, and Jasmine knew the bandit had fled with his Dragontail. She brought her staff in an upward arc as an invisible claw of magical energy slashed the sniper's back open. He howled in a mixture of shock and pain and fell to his knees as the first signs of blood stained his white clothing, the perfect winter camouflage gone. She lowered her staff slowly, approaching the sniper.

The sniper spun around with amazing speed for someone so badly injured. The crossbow was poised at Jasmine's chest, the bolt icing up as the pale blue circle appeared once more. She had never seen this, the discharge of excess cold energy used to create the Blizzard arrows, at such a close range before. The sniper's livid eyes blazed with a cold ruthlessness, so much like the deathly shard of ice mounted upon his crossbow. He grinned. She had a split second to react, not enough time to pull off another Magic Claw, nor to even muster the concentration needed to teleport. It was, however, just enough to perform one of the simplest of magician skills. She had not used it in quite a while. The single arrow burst from the crossbow as he pulled the trigger, propelling Jasmine backward and pinning her to the wall of rock behind her. An unbearable cold seemed to spread from the point where the arrow had struck.

Jasmine felt like she was dying from the inside out. She was losing feeling within, the frostbite spider-webbing from the arrow sticking out of her chest. The few streams of blood that escaped that wound had been quickly frozen as well. The sniper had abandoned her, turning back to launch a fresh assault on Leo. He was another one of those who underestimated mages, obviously thinking that a pathetic magician would not survive a Blizzard arrow at point-blank range, another one who of those who had overlooked the fact that every mage could redirect physical injury with a simple Magic Guard spell. The bulk of the damage had been channeled to Jasmine's mana pool, keeping her alive, but draining close to all of her magical energies. She had barely enough left to perform a weak healing spell, stopping the spread of the frostbite effect. It was impossible to completely heal herself while the arrow remained lodged in her lower chest, slowing her heart rate and causing her to feel light-headed. Had she not finished the Magic Guard spell, her heart would surely have been frozen solid.

A voice echoed in her head. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating, before she made out the muffled words, "Jasmine… Can you hear me?"

Leo cursed. The shield felt like a dead weight whilst dodging the arrows. He had blocked a couple of them, but the ice formed on his shield as a result only made it worse. For a second, he considered throwing it away but instead mounted it onto his back and fastened it with the pigskin leather straps. The torrential rain of arrows seemed to know no end. He had no idea it was possible to nock and fire arrows from a crossbow so rapidly. There was no way to fight like this. The sniper had the advantage of being on a higher plain, as well as the use of ranged attacks, the one thing warriors lacked among the four classes. He could only hope to get up to the cliff and fight the sniper face-to-face. Leo had never been very good at sending telepathic messages. He only hoped his message had gotten through as he continued to dodge the impossibly fast arrows streaming from the top of the cliff.

"Leo?" Jasmine's voice spoke in his head, a friendly sound among the cold cracking of ice crystals forming around him. He had never liked telepathic messages, as they felt like someone else was inside his head. It felt wrong. Strangely, he did not feel any of that revulsion from Jasmine's voice in his head. Though it was just a psionic reproduction of her spoken voice, it sounded like she was in great pain and exhaustion. "I didn't know… You can send telepathic messages?"

"We'll save that story for a happier time. Where are you?"

"Top… of the cliff. Sniper… shot me. Doesn't think I'm still alive, though I won't stay that way for long…"

"Don't say that!" Leo cried out in his mind, as a new wave of arrows missed him by inches. He was beginning to tire out. "I need you to teleport me up there, like Akili did for us. If I don't get up close with him we're both going to die."

"I've never done something like that before!" Jasmine's voice was constricted, a hint of fear behind it. "I only know the theory from lessons. I could teleport you somewhere even I don't know or worse, splice you in the process!"

"I trust you. It's our best shot."

"But…"

"Do it!"

Leo froze. He had been distracted by his argument with Jasmine. Fresh streams of arrows were headed straight for him as he stared upwards. They were close. Too close. As he braced himself for the final blow, blue light flashed around him, reflecting a new hope in his eyes. It wasn't exactly like Akili had done. There was no smooth sliding sensation, instead he felt like he was being crushed, on the inside and out. Just as suddenly as it began, it was over and Leo found himself beside Jasmine, horrified by her condition.

He rushed forward with rage and renewed vigor, spear in his hands. He had no qualms about murder tonight. The sniper's reflexes, honed to near perfection in the many years he had been training, reacted immediately and he swung around in a half-circle, parrying Leo's Fairfrozen with the stock of his crossbow. Every attack Leo launched at the sniper was immediately parried by the far lighter crossbow. His spear just was not fast enough. Leo struck from all angles, trying to get a hit to no avail. The sniper blocked every stab. Leo advanced, trying to force the sniper off the edge. The spear caught on the catch of the crossbow, and the sniper held on to it. He turned suddenly and forcefully, trying to rip Leo's weapon away from him. Leo held on and managed to jerk the spear free but this caused him to skid backward on the ice, now melted and slippery from the battle and the friction of their boots upon it. He was now merely a few meters from the edge himself.

Leo was stunned for a second as the sniper channeled energy into his crossbow. It glowed green as a colossal green dragon's head emerged from it, flying toward him. He barely had time to loose his shield from his back to raise it against the assault. He felt the impact as the dragon struck, shattering the ice crystals formed on it earlier. Most of the force was exerted on his arms, holding back the attack by pushing the enchanted arrow backward. He inverted the Fairfrozen and buried the tip in the ground to anchor himself, giving him the leverage he needed. His body glowed blue as he lifted the spear, the force causing the now released tip to swing upwards through the dragon, dissipating it and giving Leo a clear view of the sniper.

Leo rushed forward to impale the sniper, cornered against the wall of the mountain. The sniper leapt forward and over Leo with inhuman speed as he passed him. Leo suppressed a grin. Exactly as he expected. He planted his Fairfrozen in the ground as he neared the wall, flipping over the spear and mounting both feet on it. Using it as leverage, he rebounded off the wall as he pulled his spear upward, a new blue dragon's head forming on it. He caught the still-airborne sniper by surprise, his spear tearing through the crossbow he tried to block with like it was made of paper and smashing into the sniper's chest. He landed on top of the sniper, pulling his spear from the huge dent with a small tear in his chest piece. It was merely a flesh wound, but the armor seemed less damaged than Leo would have expected. The spear should have torn right through it, killing the sniper. Leo sighed.

The sniper smiled broadly in his defeat. This simple gesture was enough to surprise Leo and he took advantage of this by pushing Leo off him and getting up with improbable strength. It seemed even a wound in his chest would not slow him down. Leo fell as the sniper jumped, a large blue phoenix bursting from his palm as he did so. A small rain of icicles fell from the sky. Leo dodged them without much effort, but it was enough of a distraction for the sniper to get away. When the skies cleared, he was nowhere to be seen. It was over.

"Jasmine!" Leo cried, rushing to her side. He pulled the shaft of ice out of her chest. She did not even scream. The arrow head was huge and it ripped the flesh from her bones as it came out. Teleporting Leo up to the cliff had demanded all her concentration and energy and she was too drained to even pull a potion from her bag.

"Oh my God… Jasmine!" The wound was terrible. Blood and flesh frozen solid and scattered like broken glass strewn across a gaping slash. Her bones were just visible. Leo did the only thing he could think of, and pulled a bottle of purple potion from his bag. He tried not to use these. They were valuable. Jasmine's eyes were rolled back. She did not even seem conscious. There was no way she could drink the potion.

In desperation, Leo poured the potion onto her open wound and broke down. He had just met her. Was he going to lose another partner?

He felt a hand touch his own, icy cold like the tip of his spear. He opened his eyes. Miraculously, Jasmine's wound was slowly closing up and she had returned to consciousness. She gave him a weak smile as her hands glowed with holy energy, the green light engulfing both of them. The potion had given her enough health and energy to supplement it with her own healing powers. In no time, she was well again.

Leo felt strength returning to his limbs. He could not tell if it was Jasmine's healing spell, or her smile that brought it.

"Oh… Thank God you're okay." Leo's voiced cracked. Funny. When his previous partner had died, he only felt a numb emptiness. Not such a great sense of loss like now, especially for someone he had only just met. And the happiness now filling his being was unfamiliar too. He had not felt overwhelmed by emotions like joy and grief for a long time.

Jasmine embraced Leo. "You saved my life. I guess that makes us even now." A blue light surrounded them again as Jasmine teleported them both back down the cliff. Leo remembered what the bandit had said, and where he had indicated the Holy Stone was. He hoped the bandit had not lied.


	7. Manipulated

The sky was already dark in the night with the full moon gleaming brightly above. Leo panted. They had been walking for hours. Thank goodness they were nearing the top. He looked sideways to Jasmine. Truth to be told, he had not expected a magician to be so fit. After that ordeal with the Sniper he wouldn't even have expected Jasmine to have been able to get up and even offered to stop to rest for awhile. She shocked him by denying the offer and insisting that they carried on.

Leo pulled up, reaching the peak of the hill. What he saw there made him want to curse and swear at the bandit. It wasn't a hill at all. The slope just led up to a huge cliff. Leo groaned. It looked like the bandit had tricked them and had wanted to take his chances fighting them without a weapon, using the cliff as an advantage. The sniper had given him an even better opportunity though, allowing him to escape with his Dragontail. Had all the bandit told him about the holy stone and its answers to everything been a lie as well?

Jasmine seemed to read his mind. "No Leo, the Holy Stone is real. I've read about it, even though any mention of it is extremely scarce. We still have a chance to find it. Look, at least we aren't in another life-threatening situation."

"I guess… It's dark, we won't be able to make any more progress if we continue. We will need to stay here for the night. I'll go look for firewood to make a fire. You stay here."

Jasmine grabbed his arm. "What, after a betrayal and an attempt on our lives? No way. I'm coming with you."

Leo sighed. There was no way he was going to convince her to take a rest.

"All right, but if at any time you feel-"

"I'm _fine_, Leo. Really." She smiled, running a slender finger through the ripped fabric down the faint scar on her chest. "What is it with everyone and their disdain for mages?"

She took his hand. "C'mon. Firewood."

They walked through the forest, thick with snowfall from the heartless winter winds. The snow glowed with a dark orange color, reflecting the fading sunlight. The area seemed strangely serene, peaceful. It felt like nothing could ever destroy the sanctity of these woods. Yet at the same time, there was an air of sadness about the place, a simple melancholic feeling running from each iced-over root to each snow-covered branch.

"It's there again." said Jasmine quietly. "That feeling. It's the same as right after Akili gave us the briefing. Like… Like something's terribly wrong. Something I can't place my finger on."

Leo remained silent, not quite knowing what to say.

"I mean don't you find it awfully coincidental?" Jasmine spoke with an honest air of confusion. An assassination attempt on the very same day we set off? And besides, Akili sent us off without so much as a goodbye. There was no way anyone could have found out about the plan within those two hours we spent preparing."

"Well, maybe Akili told someone and that person was a traitor?" Leo offered.

"Impossible." replied Jasmine at once. "Akili isn't exactly the type to share his secret plans with random people over coffee. The rest of the squad probably doesn't even know we're gone, and if they did, Akili would give them some kind of false explanation to both throw them off the trail, warding off any possible traitors, and to stop them from asking him.

"I know Akili too well." she added. "He took me in as my personal tutor when I was just a cleric in training."

"Akili does have an eye for those with great potential." replied Leo, grinning.

Jasmine did not return his smile. "But the thing that bugs me is that he's so paranoid and secretive, he's the only one who could possibly know about our little reconnaissance mission."

"But what are you saying then?" Leo asked. He had begun hacking at the base of a sickly-looking tree with his hunting knife, having left his hatchet back at the El Nath base. He wished he'd considered that under 'essentials to bring'.

"I'm saying that nobody else could have betrayed us to the sniper." replied Jasmine worriedly. She used a Magic Claw spell to rip the base of the tree twice as deep as Leo had managed with his knife. The tears were in three different places, messier than Leo's cuts but far more efficient. "I'm saying I think Akili sent us on this mission to get rid of us."

"What? Preposterous." retorted Leo, shocked. "Why would he do that?" He had abandoned the tree and stowed his blade away, leaving the job to Jasmine.

"I don't know," replied Jasmine with a suggestion of annoyance in her voice. The tree had almost fallen. "Maybe he saw that we were losing and simply chose to join the winning side."

"Well… I mean… He could've…" Leo was at a loss for words. "I don't know, I just don't see Akili as the traitorous sort."

"He's too mysterious. None of the mages fully trusts him. Respect, yes, but complete trust in him is debatable." She finished off the attack on the tree as it came crashing down, sending snow and ice flying in a large cloud of white.

Leo grabbed hold of the barren branches of the tree, now lying sideways on the snow. "Are you certain Akili was the one who ordered the attack on us?"

"Well… No. I'm not absolutely sure. But still, he wasn't completely honest with us during the briefing." She stowed her staff into her belt, following Leo, who was already beginning to drag the tree back to the campsite by himself.

For a while, they were silent. The only sounds that could be heard were that of Leo's boots crushing the snow and the tree being dragged along.

* * *

The sniper cursed. He had never failed an assignment before. He had begun to fear failure the moment his first assault failed as he usually took out his targets before they even knew they were being attacked. The priest had spotted him, unfortunately. He was surprised, yes, when she snuck up on him. That was the closest he had gotten to failure than even before and had lost him his bonus kill. Nonetheless, he was sure he'd finished her off. Never in his wildest dreams would he think that after being shot in the chest by a Blizzard arrow and left for dead in the cold, a mage would still have enough strength to teleport another person from a distance.

That was when he really got worried. Up close against a Dragon Knight was not his idea of an easy fight.

_Still,_ he comforted himself. _I put up a good fight. I only fled when it was absolutely necessary. The Dragon Knight was too good._ Failure was a great blow to his ego as well as his reputation, but that was not what he was afraid of.

Somehow he felt it would not be a good enough explanation for his master.

As the sniper entered the chamber where his master awaited, he dared not look up. For the first time in a very long while, he felt afraid. His master was not someone to play with.

The figure stood in the shadows. His cloak hid his face. The only thing visible was the faint outline of a staff in his right hand.

"Master… I… Have failed. I am sor-"

"YOU WHAT?" The master's voice drowned out all other sounds, including the sniper's pathetic whimpering.

"They were just too strong, the priest especially! I had no idea-"

"SILENCE, FOOL. YOU HAVE COST ME GREATLY."

"I… But…"

"INFERNAL WRETCH. BEGONE WITH YOU."

The master raised a hand in the darkness. Sparks of electricity flowed from it, forming a ball of sparkling energy. A stream of lightning jumped from his palm, striking the sniper squarely in the chest and propelling him out of the master's chamber.

The master watched as the sniper fell to the ground, outside the chamber, motionless. He cursed silently. This was a great blow to his grand plan.

* * *

Finally, they reached the empty plain again, with the tree in tow. Surely it was enough firewood to last the night. Leo set the tree in the middle of the plain, sitting down on a large boulder to rest. Jasmine pulled a rock with strange markings on it from inside her robes. Leo thought he had seen those markings on the floor back at base when he walked past the mage room. Jasmine held the rock up, muttering a curious incantation softly. The rock began to glow as magical discharge sparked from her fingers, enveloping the rock in a blue light. The light transfigured the rock as it melted into a different shape. When the light faded, a miniscule blue dragon had formed, about the size of an actual baby dragon. It began to blast the tree with turquoise beams, decimating it into smaller chunks of wood. Before long, a small pile of firewood formed and the dragon, having fulfilled its purpose, vanished.

Jasmine laid a portion of the wood in a circle as Leo watched, impressed by her resourcefulness. Her face contorted in absolute concentration, staff held up in front of the logs. Leo had no idea what she was doing.

The body of her staff began to glow as Leo marveled at how little he knew about mages. Suddenly, her staff seemed to catch fire for no reason, as a tongue of flame shot from her fingers through the staff onto the wood, setting it alight. It was not like when she shot the holy arrow at the sniper's bolts. The flame was not recognizable as a bow and the staff itself was still visible. Yet the spell was unmistakable.

Leo was dumbstruck. He knew enough about mages to know this was nothing ordinary. "What was that? I thought you were a Priest, not a Fire Mage? Since when can Priests cast fire arrows?"

Jasmine smiled, wiping a bead of perspiration off her forehead despite the cold. "They don't. I kind of borrowed some of the Fire Mage teaching scripts and practiced the simpler spells. It's not easy to use another path's skills once you've chosen your own. Most think it's impossible. It took me months to even get a spark out of it."

"Wow… you're amazing." said Leo admiringly. Jasmine allowed herself another smile as she sat down on the boulder beside him. The blaze grew, illuminating and warming both tired faces. The two Dark crystals set into the shoulders of Leo's chestplate glinted in the orange light.

"That's interesting." remarked Jasmine, running her fingers over the crystals. "Why Dark crystals?"

"Well, you see, it's a Dragon Knight tradition to have Dark crystals set into their armor. There is a legend among us, that in ancient times, dragons were thought to be evil creatures that would terrorize and torment the citizens of El Nath. A group of Knights set out to eliminate the dragons and save the town once and for all. However, they grew attracted to the awesome dark power of the dragons and instead began to study them, to learn about them and eventually, they learned to use the dragons' power, growing more and more corrupted by the Dark side of their power. As the legend goes, when the original group died, their souls were ripped out by the dragons and scattered over the lands for them to spread their influence. Dark crystals are said to contain the souls of the original covenant of Dark Knights."

Leo laughed. "Of course, today we know dragons are not evil at all. The Dark crystal thing is just a tradition. Dark crystals contain an evil power within them, but as far as I know, they are only put into Dragon Knights' armor for their rarity and for aesthetic purposes."

"Interesting," said Jasmine again. "I'm sure I've seen those crystals before. Somewhere else…"

A look of sudden revelation passed her face.

"Oh! Does this symbol look familiar to you, Leo?" she asked excitedly, tracing a glyph into the snow with her finger. It showed a dragon in profile, wings spread and with two diamonds linking the wings to the body.

Leo's eyes widened in recognition. "Yes! That's the symbol of the coven of Dark knights in the legend. I thought only Dragon Knights knew the legend and the symbol."

"But the thing is, Leo, I'd never heard that legend before!" Jasmine spoke elatedly, her voice quivering with excitement. "I know this symbol from lost scriptures of the Holy Stone. The text was in ancient script and none of the mages could translate it, but the symbol was very distinct."

"There's another part to the legend." Leo's own voice grew with excitement as well. "Before they died, the Dark Knights documented all the knowledge of the ages, including knowledge of the Dark side of the dragons' powers. They accumulated this wisdom into a great arcane library of sorts, a colossal rock enchanted with Dark magic. All the information was stored into this rock, which according to the legend, 'has seen all and knows all'. The Dark knights put further enchantments onto the rock, to protect the information from unworthy eyes, only to be drawn by true Knights of the original covenant. This enchantment took the form of a test of sorts, to determine whether or not the seeker was a true Knight, whether or not the seeker was 'worthy'."

"That's exactly like the bandit told us about the Holy Stone." Jasmine noted. "Perhaps he did not completely deceive us."

"The legend states that after many ages, a lot of the Dark magic used to enchant the rock had faded, and what remains is just enough to store the information, not enough to draw it. That is why a Dark crystal sacrifice is necessary. Now that we're talking about it, I don't know why it didn't ring a bell when the bandit mentioned the sacrifice."

"Then the Stone of the legends is the Holy Stone?" asked Jasmine.

"Yes and no. With all that Dark energy around it, how holy can it be? No, the Stone of the legend was far from holy. The legends knew it by a different name"

"What then?"

Leo grinned, throwing another log into the flames. "They called it the Malevolent Eye."


	8. Fear

"Ok, so we know what the Holy Stone is. Does the legend actually speak of the location?"

"No. But I have seen the emblem somewhere else before though. It's on this mountain. I saw it before while training to become a Dragon Knight. It's not very far from the bottom but it is extremely dangerous. We usually call them the "sharp cliffs". No one actually ventures there but it's often used for training us for extreme conditions. I saw the emblem carved into the side of a wall. It seemed like some sort of door but neither I nor anybody else could actually budge it. We shrugged it off as a very well carved relief that was made to tribute the ancient Dragon Knights."

Jasmine's eyes widened. "Do you think that could be where the Holy Stone is?"

"It's worth a shot. I mean, it's our only lead isn't it?"

"I guess… But what if this is just some sort of wild goose chase to lead us straight to death?"

Leo shrugged. "Well, the Holy Stone DOES provide us with all the answers right? We could ask it whether Akili did betray us or not." Leo yawned. "Well, we better get some sleep if we are going to get there tomorrow. I think it will take about twelve hours to get there if we take some breaks in between."

* * *

The sun hung brightly above them, the snow not melting despite the heat. Leo's upper body felt warm, almost uncomfortably so in his thick armor. The snow stole any heat from his lower body, leaving it icy cool. It was a strange sensation. Leo hoped they were going the right way. Usually he would look out for the monsters as their territories would mark out where he was, but the mountain was oddly deserted. In fact, the only monsters he had seen were the Werewolf and Yeti. Another question added to the list of what to ask the Stone. Leo halted as he felt a strong gust of icy cold wind blow straight in his face, filling him with an inexplicable cheerlessness. Jasmine turned to look at him, questioning. 

"We're close. This part of the mountain seems to be forever gloomy. Look, even the sun is getting covered by the clouds now. The monsters around here also seem to always be in a monochrome of grey. Of course there aren't any around here now, but I think you get the picture."

"I wonder why…"

"Well come to think of it, if the Stone was indeed here the Dark energy must have been causing all this. It's as good a hunch as any. While the Knights were training here we never asked why it was like this. We just accepted it and went on." Leo sighed. This place never failed in making him feel depressed. There was no actual reason for the sadness, it just… existed. He pointed at a drop off a side of the cliff further up "There. It's just below that. I'll need you to teleport both of us down. Think you're up to it?"

"I still don't feel entirely safe teleporting the both of us. So we've done it before without anything happening, but who's to say nothing will go wrong?"

"Look, we've done it twice now without anything happening to us. I doubt a third will cause anything."

Jasmine sighed. "Fine, you have a point. I guess I am being a little paranoid. Besides, I guess its true that there's no other way we could get down there."

A blue light surrounded them again. Leo was growing used to the feeling of compression by now. They found themselves at the bottom of the cliff. The terrain was extremely treacherous, with sudden drops in the ground threatening to send the victim careening towards their doom. Leo led the way, looking back to make sure that nothing untoward happened to Jasmine.

"There, look. The emblem." The emblem was carved into the wall in a very odd way. There was what seemed like a door embedded in the wall, although still made out of the same rock. On the "door" was carved the emblem. "Any ideas? From how it is carved, I would say it is a door. But how do you get onto the other side? I highly doubt smashing through it would be a good idea."

Jasmine frowned slightly. "There was a phrase in the scripts of the Holy Stone. It was as if it stood out among everything else and was also the only thing we could decipher." Jasmine walked forward towards the door, waving her hand over it and muttering wordlessly. The glow of the dragon was sudden enough to shock Jasmine and make her stumble backwards momentarily. The dragon's black glow seemed to spread through the entire door, till the whole thing was glowing. The door seemed to fade away as all that was left was a blue portal in the space.

"Well, that was… easy. Ready?"

"We've come this far haven't we? We don't have anything to lose now."

Leo felt her grip his hand. Jasmine smiled. "Let's go together."

Leo took a deep breath. They entered the portal as one. What he felt was not unlike teleporting. A blue light bathed him as he felt like the ground was pulled away behind him, not unlike the pranks he had played and experienced in childhood, pulling rugs out from under peoples' feet. He felt Jasmine's hand dissolve in his and tried to grab it, but there was nothing to grab. And then he was falling. The blue light faded as the falling sensation left and was replaced with the sensation that he was floating again. He looked around as he was gently deposited onto the soft snow.

Leo looked around. There was something wrong with this place. Everything seemed to look as it should, and yet somehow, Leo felt surreal, almost like he was dreaming. There was no sight of Jasmine anywhere. He was at the bottom of some sort of canyon, surrounded from all sides by walls that seemed to stretch on for eternity. The only way out was a gaping tunnel in front of him, like the open mouth of a giant beast. It was not inviting.

"Why can't these quests make things easy for you? Let you just walk through the door and get whatever you need?"

Leo sighed. Seeing no other way out, he walked into the dark tunnel. He just hoped Jasmine was alright.

He walked for a couple of minutes in near total darkness, the light at the end growing bigger with every step. What lay at the other side of the tunnel was definitely not what Leo had expected.

Leo was horrified. "You!"

"Me." The man smiled. "Surprised?"

"But you're-"

"Dead? Thought you gotten rid of me didn't you? Scared?"

"No. Never." There was a pause before Leo spoke again. _"Dad."_

"Oh, so you finally acknowledge me as your father? I am _so_ honored. But I didn't come here for that. I'm here for a reason. And that's because you did something that you regretted. Didn't you? Did you fear something like that would happen again?"

Leo fought to keep his hands steady. "No. You're dead. I never regretted you dying. As far as I'm concerned…" Leo's voice rose with every syllable, forgotten pain and hurt rising in his heart. "I NEVER HAD A FATHER!"

"Just like before, _son. _You still can't control your anger well. Not afraid of a repeat?"

Leo spoke though gritted teeth, voice trembling with not fear, but intense loathing and hatred. "Fuck. You. To. Hell."

"Watch your tongue, _Leonardo._ You don't want your sister hearing your crude language, would you?"

Leo's blood boiled hearing him even mention her. "You- SHUT UP. You have NO RIGHT to even mention her!"

"That so?" his father challenged. "As I recall it wasn't _you_ who caused her death, _Leonardo_?"

"I abandoned that name the day I left your house a free man, the day I killed you!"

"It was you, son."

"No..."

"You."

"NO!" he screamed. "NO! IT WAS YOU! IT WAS YOUR FAULT! EVERYTHING WAS YOUR FAULT!" Foam had built up around the corners of Leo's mouth. Flecks of spittle flew as he shouted.

"Perhaps you need a reminder, son."

Leo fell to his knees, painfully repressed memories rising like a demon within him. Memories Leo tried so hard to forget. Every excruciating detail came flooding back.

* * *

The smell of alcohol hung heavily on the man's breath. He held a half-empty beer bottle in one hand, the other dragging the left foot of a helpless struggling boy. Begging and pleading did nothing for the boy. More scars that never faded. More bruises that never healed. More questions never answered. The boy was thrown to the middle of the floor, being ruthlessly whipped with a belt. His father was shouting meaningless sounds. It was the same thing every night. Being called worthless, scum and any other insult one could think of, being punished for crimes he did not remember. There was a time when his father was caring, loving, but that was all lost now… That man had died with his mother, and in his place was a heartless animal. The belt resounded with each crack on the boy's flesh. Something in his mind snapped. 

He felt his hands moving of their own will, his body tired of being abused again and again. This was not a rational decision. It was primal. Instinctive. He could not even control it, nor did he want to. He welcomed it. He was not a weak defenseless boy anymore. He felt like an animal. It felt good.

He watched his fists fall onto the man's face. He heard bones cracking, breaking, whether they were his or not, he neither knew nor cared. He couldn't feel anything. Everything felt numb to him. Something tried to pull him away. It felt so distant, so weak. It did not matter. He grabbed whatever it was, throwing it effortlessly against the wall. He heard a cracking noise, but it did not bother him. All focus was on the brute before him, on returning a long due debt. His hands closed around the man's throat, resuming their job, closing tighter and tighter till the struggles of the man desperately trying to cling on to his life slowed and ceased. The man was dead.

The madness fled from the boy's eyes. A horrid realization descended on him, like a bucket of ice water being thrown on him, forcing a painful soberness upon him. The pain and aches came crawling back. He looked down at his hands. He had murdered with them... But he had never really cared for his father. Not ever since the beatings had started, when he stopped showing any love to him. But the real shock had yet to hit. He looked around for whatever it was that had tried to stop him from killing his father. It was his sister. She was the only person who had showed him love and care in the house, who would tend to his wounds after he was abused, who comforted him when he was down. Lying face down on the ground, her head was cocked to a very unusual angle. Dead. Because of him… All because of him…

* * *

Leo looked up, fully expecting to see his father still gloating. But he didn't see his father. For a moment he did not recognize her, his vision blurred by the tears clouding his eyes. Then it struck. It was his sister, she who had died because of him. He rose up slowly, not understanding what was going on, why all this was happening to him. 

"Sis? But you're- you're-"

"Dead. I know. But I'm here, am I not?" She smiled gently, moving forward and embracing him.

Leo suddenly felt like a child again, the same child who always went to his sister for comfort after being hurt. The child who was constantly abused by his father. He broke into tears again, holding her tighter. "But how? Why?"

"None of that matters, Leo. It wasn't your fault."

"But- But how is it you're alive?" Leo repeated, confused and yet joyous.

"I can come back, Leo. But it is your choice. You may choose to have me remain dead, or to bring me back."

"Wh-what? Of course I choose to bring you back!" Leo felt a mild wave of panic as a fleeting sense of disbelief.

"Do not be so hasty, brother. There is a price. To bring me back, you must forsake the years following my death. All that must be erased. But remember this: it was my death that led you to become a Dragon Knight, caused you to have helped so many people, to save so many innocent lives. If you are willing to forsake all that, my life may be returned."

Leo kept silent. The words struck home.

All those years he had lied to himself that he had learned to live with his guilt. He killed two people that day. All those years his conscience had been tugging at him, no matter how hard he told himself he was over it, that he forgave himself. The guilt remained. It never went away no matter how much he tried to atone for it. It was as though if he did enough, he could somehow undo that day.

"Would you, Leo? Would you do that for me? I loved you, Leo."

Still he kept mute, brooding in silent reflection. He was still embracing her. She felt so warm, so comforting. All those people he had saved? All those whose lives had been better simply because he was there? His thoughts drifted into the years he had spent as a Dragon Knight, the friends and allies he had made on the way. Was it all worth it?

"Leo?"

For the first time in what seemed like hours, she walked through his mind. Jasmine.

Leo pushed his sister away. "No. I've got to learn to stop denying it. I was the one who killed you. It was my own two hands. I may not have been myself but that doesn't mean I'm free from the responsibility. I regretted it, yes, but you're dead."

The tears had started flowing again.

"Don't leave me, Leo!"

"NO!" he shouted. Inside, he burned, speaking to her this way. But somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew he could never really bring her back. She was dead.

"No." he said finally. "I can't do it. I can't forsake all that for you. I am truly sorry, sis. I can no longer continue living in the past." The tears were flowing freely now, streaming down his face like a bursting dam.

His sister was smiling, though Leo could not see it. "Right answer, Leo," she replied, snapping her fingers.

A flash of blue surrounded Leo and he was gone.

Leo appeared back where he was, in the huge canyon but this time, instead of a tunnel, there was a huge towering rock above them. He looked around, seeing Jasmine to his right. He breathed a sigh of relief. She had passed the test too. All that had happened so far had come down to this. Either this rock was a waste of time, or it wasn't.

He tore one of the dark crystals off the side of his armor and threw it at the base of the rock. The crystal glowed momentarily and seemed to dissolve into the snow.

A voice seemed to echo through the canyon. "Well at last, a pair of people who aren't completely hopeless. Congratulations on passing that little test. Most know me as the Holy Stone, the Dragon Knights as the Malevolent Eye, yet others as the Shadow Obelisk and Enot Sel Caro. Trust me, I didn't come up with those. So, what, are you going to ask me a question or just sit there gaping like a couple of dumb rocks?"


	9. Revelations

**Chapter 8: Revelations**

"So, you can answer any question at all? You know everything?"

"Wait. You're a Dragon Knight right? Sorry, I only can answer questions about the times of the Dark Knights. They created me and imparted me with their knowledge remember? Or are you so inept that you can't even remember a fairy tale?"

Leo almost screamed in frustration. After an attack on his mind leaving him feeling emotionally vulnerable? It looked like it was a waste of time after all.

"Nah, I'm kidding. Heh, you should have seen the look on your face. _Classic_. Are you crazy? What makes you think someone made me? I've always been here and always will be. The Dark Knights found me and learnt all they know from me. Then their ego got the better of them. You know, the whole power corrupts thing."

"Look, can you please stop beating around the bush?" Jasmine said tiredly. It was obvious to Leo that she had endured just as tough a challenge as he did, and was just as weary as he was.

"Okay, okay, it was just a joke. Let's not waste time then, on to your burning questions."

Jasmine opened her mouth to speak, but was almost immediately interrupted by the Stone.

"Wait, wait, I know all remember? I know what's on top of your mind right now. So, in order, yes, I know who's behind this, yes I can show you the cause behind the wildlife's strange behaviors and yes, he_ does_ like you too."

Leo kept a mildly surprised silence as Jasmine hung her head in embarrassment. The rock sniggered.

"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you weren't even _considering_ asking me that if Leo weren't here."

Leo had no idea what to say.

"So anyway, where were we? Yes, the war, wasn't it? The _War for Ossyria._ Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I should write a _book._"

The light on the monolith seemed to flicker a little, as if in amusement.

"Wait, never mind. No arms, see?"

The rock laughed at its own joke, which neither Leo nor Jasmine seemed to find funny.

"Hey, are you going to answer our questions or not? Can we _please_ get to the point already?" Jasmine shot at the rock, annoyance greatly evident in her tone.

"All right, all right. Jeez. Not a visitor in a millennia and _still_ nobody has a sense of humor. Okay, the war then. I think this will work better if I help you visualize it a little. Be wary that the energy in that Dark crystal may run dry at any time."

The snow seemed to fade around Leo as the white surface was replaced with the cave-like interior of a volcano. El Nath was rumored to have a lava cave inside the mountain, the Cave of Trials. But that was all it was, a rumor. There was never actual proof that the mountain was a dormant volcano. If it had erupted before, it was a long time before any humans had lived there.

"Anyway, first off would be… Ah yes. _Ergoth_." The Stone adopted a more serious tone of voice. An image materialized in the cave of a skeletal undead wearing a blood red cloak and wielding a huge staff that had a Drake's skull on mounted top. Leo felt slightly repulsed by the hideousness of the entity.

"Ergoth used to be the ruler of Sharenia. It was a fearsome empire, feared by all around. Much like all tyrant rulers, Ergoth feared death and rebellion. He started practicing necromancy and black magic, managing to make himself close to immortal and very much more powerful. For a price, of course. The spells corrupted his physical body, and he could no longer be considered human. Sharenia eventually fell in war, and even now it lies in ruins. Ancient history records suggest that Sharenia would have been somewhere near the place we now know as Perion. Not that that matters much. Anyway, Ergoth now plans to take over Ossyria and remold it into his ideal empire, to reclaim the lost glory and power he used to hold so dear. Ossyria is so much bigger than Victoria let alone Sharenia. Of course, to do it, he needs a lot more power than he has right now. He needs to be able to alter reality itself."

Leo was stunned. "Alter reality?"

"Hey, you try taking over a continent the size of Ossyria single-handedly without reality-bending powers and we'll see how you manage."

"So what does this cave have to do with anything?" asked Jasmine, motioning to the surrounding areas. The vision of the lava cave was extremely realistic, but it still felt like a cold winter day around them. Neither of them had ever felt a stranger sensation.

"Absolutely nothing. Looks pretty cool though, doesn't it?" replied the Stone, mischievousness reappearing in its voice.

"What? You-"

"I'm _kidding._ This is where Ergoth is hiding. Terrible, isn't it? The heat's very drying on the skin. Just look at Ergoth's appalling complexion, eh?"

"Can you _please _just-"

"Yeah, yeah, ok. He's also here for a reason. Heard of Zakum, Leo? Wait, don't answer. I already know. Right, that's a 'no' then. Wow, why does it seem like all you warriors have so little intelligence?"

Leo felt like it was almost useless talking to the Rock verbally.

"So, what exactly is Zakum? It is, at its root just a chaotic force. It does, however, have a physical manifestation of itself, which is directly linked to its ability to wreak havoc. Ergoth intends to use Zakum's reality-bending powers I mentioned earlier, since Zakum's physical form grants the person who summoned it control over its powers, allowing them to use it as their own. However, when the one who summoned Zakum dies, it will be released from its magical bindings and will be free to cause devastation as suits its will."

"So where-"

"Zakum can only be summoned within this lava cave. That is why Ergoth is here. Yes, of course he can be defeated. Idiot. The physical manifestation is as much a part of Zakum as the chaotic force foundation. Destroy the body and the core will be unable to do anything significant until a new body is summoned for it. Now hold fire on the celebrations. Zakum can't be killed. Not really. Not unless you're a god or something. The closest anyone got to that is sealing him away in a mystic orb, known to most as the 'Eye of Fire'. Of course, it's usually in legend as some sort of relic that makes the holder more powerful. Now look, this is where we are. "

A map of pure light appeared before Leo and Jasmine, one unlike any they had ever seen. It was immediately obvious that it was a map of Ossyria, but no one had ever succeeded in mapping the whole of Ossyria before. There were strange places neither of them had seen or heard of before. North-East of the red spot marking El Nath, two tiny pinpricks of green light showed their current position.

"If you go further east," The two miniscule green dots began to extend into lines, showing the route they were meant to take. "through the territories of the wolves, you'll find yourselves in a forest corrupted by Darkness, where all the trees are nothing more than the petrified remains of what used to be a vibrant canopy of green."

Leo realized from the position of the forest that this was roughly where the undead hordes had spawned from. He had seen the forest during his trainings, but never ventured into it. The forest had a very eerie feel, accompanied by the faint stench of rotting flesh. Not one of the Dragon Knights wanted to have anything to do with the forest. The two lines extended deep into the plot marked as the forest, coming to rest at a patch of black darker than the surrounding areas.

"Within this forest, there is an abandoned coal mine. Few have heard of it, and those who do call it the Dead Mines. Ages ago, a plague from where, even I do not know, ravaged the thriving forest mining town, turning many of the inhabitants into undead, who later wiped out what few survivors there were. Over time, the plague spread through the forest, corrupting the wildlife as well. Eventually, the entire forest became a derelict piece of land, avoided by anyone with half a brain. I may not know for sure what caused the plague, but I do have a theory. I believe the plague came from a Darkness within the mine, released when the miners unwittingly roused it from its slumber. I believe that this Darkness is the chaos spirit of Zakum. If you want to reach Zakum, which by the way, I would personally _strongly_ discourage, you will have to enter the Dead Mines."

The entire map seemed to fade away as a new one formed. Leo supposed this symbolized entering the Dead Mines within the ghost town. The lines began moving downward in a rather complicated manner. The whole mine seemed like a mind-boggling labyrinth, with twists and turns at every corner.

"At the rock bottom of the mines, Ergoth blasted a huge hole in the wall, allowing himself further passage into the fabled Cave of Trials. That is the lava cave you see before you."

The map faded away again and was replaced with a new map. This one was mostly in angry shades of red.

"It is within this cave that the altar to Zakum, the key to summoning him, lies. This involves sacrificing the Eye of Fire upon the altar, releasing Zakum's physical form and allowing the chaos spirit to inhabit it."

"How do you know so much, and in such detail?" Leo asked, more impressed than he had been in a long time.

"Because I'm Batman." replied the stone

Silence hung in the air as Leo and Jasmine exchanged bewildered looks.

"Wait, never mind that. Wrong universe." The stone sniggered again. "I gain knowledge by spreading my Dark influence throughout the land and gathering information."

Leo wondered curiously what exactly the stone was and why it had such a twisted sense of humor.

"Anyway… Zakum was first sealed by three of the most powerful people of that age. They had very unique powers and even though they should have been passed down through the genetic line, none ever seemed to have fully manifested. I have been combing the lands for evidence of the descendents of these three, but as yet have been unlucky. Although… Ergoth seems to have the theory that you two-"

The stone had cut off midway in its speech. Apparently, the Dark Crystal's power just had run out. Leo swore angrily. He was hanging on the stone's final words, anxious and fervently hungering to know more. Just at that moment, the familiar voice of Akili echoed through his mind.

_"The Dragon Knights have failed. __El Nath has fallen. __Do not come back. We need to meet."_


	10. Betrayal

**Chapter 9****: Betrayal **

Leo stole a glance at Jasmine. There was a dark look in her eyes that made it obvious she had received the message as well. Leo considered Akili's message. _What he wants to say could be important. Or maybe he's trying to finish what the sniper started? We could be playing straight into his palm._

"Jasmine?"

"We don't have much of a choice, Leo. What Akili has to say must be important enough for him to request a meeting rather than just tell us telepathically. Besides, if El Nath really is gone, the information we've learnt is useless. There's no more El Nath to… to fight for." Jasmine choked back tears. For so long El Nath had been their home, their shelter. Leo felt it too. All their friends, family, everyone they had come to know and love… Fled, dead or enslaved by Ergoth?

"I'll… I'll tell him we'll see him then, eh?" Leo's voice was stony as well. There was a lump in his throat he could not suppress.

Leo closed his eyes, willing his mind to find Akili's, probing, searching. Something connected.

"Are you done deciding whether or not you trust me, Leo?"

There was a pregnant pause as Leo killed off the last instances of hesitation in his mind. "All right, Akili. We'll meet with you."

"Good. I have many important things to tell you, and very little time to do so. Meet me at the Sharp Cliffs within an hour. I trust you are familiar with the area?"

"I am."

"Excellent. I will be waiting for you at the apex of its opening. Do not be late."

Akili materialized exactly one hour after their correspondence. Jasmine had teleported Leo and herself back to the mouth of the Cliffs, the empty plain where they had sat and talking about the Dragon Knight legend. Akili looked worn, his face a little more lined and his scowl a little more disgruntled than usual. It was like he had not slept properly in days. Leo could not fault him. As the leader and command giver of the El Nath military faction, dealing with the incessant waves of creatures assaulting El Nath must have taken quite a toll on Akili.

Leo took a deep breath, cautiously eyeing Akili. He half expected Akili to pull out a crossbow and start shooting Blizzard arrows at them. Leo nodded in greeting. Even under suspicion that the man before him had ordered his life, he still held a great deal of respect for the old man. "Akili."

"I have a great many things to tell you both, Leo." Akili sighed wearily and sat down on the log in the exact same spot Leo had been sitting the night before. It seemed so long ago now.

Akili had changed his attire since the last time Leo saw him, before he and Jasmine had set out on their quest. He had swapped his dark robe for a deep blue cloak. This new cloak had an armored chest piece of gilded mithril as well as gold trim running along the length of the cloak. It matched the gloves and boots Akili was now wearing, both in the same shade of blue and gold. His light brown hair was streaked with white, falling past his shoulders, with a golden circlet bearing a Dark crystal now sitting upon it. Akili set his staff into the snow. Leo had never seen a staff quite like Akili's. It was more like a Chinese polearm than a staff with a huge blade set upon the top, looking more like a warrior's weapon of choice than a mage's.

"First," said Leo. "I have a question. How can El Nath have fallen? The Dragon Knights aren't the only line of defense. What happened to the-"

"It was only a matter of time, Leo." Akili cut him off. He sounded agitated and impatient. "Ergoth commands too big an army against us. The Knights and Crusaders had no chance. Even our Death Squad Assassins are useless seeing as there is no leader, no commander to take down and no head to sever. Their only instruction was to steamroll El Nath at all costs."

Leo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He had been waiting for that word to pop up. "How do you know about Ergoth? No one knew about it and if _you_ did why didn't you tell us? We only found out about him from the Holy Stone. In fact, the Stone was about to tell us something about Ergoth when you sent us that message."

Akili seemed mildly fazed. "Some scriptures contain lore about the stone. They say any attempt to contact one in correspondence with the Stone will result in it ceasing all dispersal of information. It was supposed to be a security feature to prevent those who were not worthy from asking the Stone questions. Still, the location of Holy Stone has been lost to history and even then the test is known to kill people. How in heaven's name did you do it?"

Leo opened his mouth to respond, but Jasmine cut in. "Long story, Akili. What we want to know is how you learned about Ergoth."

Akili sighed. "I was going to tell you about that, but I was hoping it wouldn't come up so quickly. Slip of the tongue. Truth is I haven't been completely honest with you two."

Jasmine shot an accusatory glance at Leo, but he missed it, being too busy glaring angrily at Akili.

"Meaning _what_, exactly?"

"To cut a long story short, I've betrayed everyone. Yes," he said, looking sadly at Jasmine's reproachful eyes, so full of hurt and loathing that he could not bear to look at them. Instead, he began examining his staff with apparent great interest. "Before either of you say anything, there are reasons. I had no choice."

"So it _was _you who sent the sniper? _You_ tried to kill us?" asked Leo incredulously.

Akili shook his head. "Ergoth sent him. However, I was instructed to send you along to meet him." He did not meet Leo's eyes but stared blankly at the reflection of his own eyes in the blade of his staff. Leo felt rage arising in him. The man he had respected and trusted for so many years and who he had defended against Jasmine's accusations had tried to kill him, sent him on a mission from which he was not meant to return. He felt like screaming. Leo grabbed Akili by the throat and slammed him against the cliff wall. Akili made no movement to defend himself. The broken katana Leo had retrieved from the fight against the bandit was drawn from its sheath and poised to kill in an instant, inches away from Akili's throat.

"Leo, don't!" Jasmine shouted, grabbing his arm in exasperation. The memory of his sister's death flooded Leo's mind and the fury vanished from his eyes immediately. Leo shook his head, desperate to stop the anger from consuming him. _No. Not again._

"Look, Leo. I had no choice. Do you hear me? I HAD NO CHOICE." Akili shouted, flecks of saliva hitting Leo's face.

"We always have a choice, Akili." Leo growled. "There is always another path you can take."

"You idealistic fool. I am bound to Ergoth, linked to his will by an age old blood agreement. Believe me, this is the last thing I would want. I have worked so hard throughout my life, searching for a way to break the enchantment, but it is not possible. It is only broken when the conditions of the contract are fulfilled, or either party dies. I have thought about suicide many times, but El Nath needed me. If I were to have taken the coward's way out, Ergoth would have struck much earlier. I was able to delay his plans for as much as I was able while staying within the boundaries of the contract."

Leo lowered the katana and relaxed his grip. "How can we be sure you aren't here on Ergoth's command?"

"You cannot. But there is a reason why Ergoth singled you two out particularly. Tell me, Leo, what do you know about Zakum?"

"A fair bit, thanks to the Holy Stone. It tried to tell us something about the three people who first sealed Zakum and their descendants before it was cut off."

"Simple. Ergoth thinks that you two are descendants of those people. He wanted you out of the war for two reasons. Firstly, he needs to bring the blood of those three, or the blood of their kin, to the altar of Zakum to break all the enchantments binding Zakum's full power, so he had to keep you from the battle where your bodies could have easily been thrown aside and lost. He was afraid your powers would manifest during the war as well, throwing off his plans of conquest altogether."

Jasmine frowned. "Powers?"

"The three who sealed Zakum were among the most skilled of their time. They created their own spells and techniques while improving on existing ones. Those in their bloodline share their natural talents, albeit at a lower level, the gift passing through each generation. Based on the skills invented by the original three, all three would have one common gift: the potential to harness the spirit of the Dragons and use it against their enemies."

Leo's mind flashed back to his battle with the sniper at the mention of the Dragons. The image of the terrifying green dragon's head forming on the crossbow of the sniper and the awesome power of the arrow fired from it had both shocked and impressed him.

"Then the third person is-"

"That sniper. I know very little about him, except that he is bound to Ergoth much like I am, having been gambled away by his parents." Akili's eyes filled with a flame that Jasmine recognized. It was remarkably like that which filled Leo's eyes after the Stone's trial.

"These powers lie dormant in the individual until moments of great stress, usually manifesting at most once. The few instances I know of people in the past showing such power all resulted in the same thing. The power overwhelmed them, was too much for them and burned them out, ending with death. Since most of the general public did not know about the three who sealed Zakum, they passed it off as a freak accident or an isolated phenomenon. Because of this, I was unable to track the ancestry of those people. However, Ergoth has trained the sniper such that he can utilize his Draconian skills as and when he likes, making him one of the deadliest assassins in Ossyria. He is highly sought after by leaders of criminal factions to eliminate their foes."

"That sniper almost killed us both. He used some green dragon arrow thing that very nearly pushed me off the cliff."

"Yes, Dragon Pulse. That's one of his Draconian skills. The Dragon force has enough power not only to propel the arrow, but to keep it going even after it has struck. You are very lucky to have made it out alive."

Leo kept silent. He remembered how the arrow struck his shield and continued pushing, startling him even more than the appearance of a skill he had never seen before. He hung his head as he remembered that while he had not suffered any lasting injuries, Jasmine had very barely made it at all.

Jasmine spoke, skepticism and distrust evident in her voice. "But Dragon Knights all can harness the Dragon Spirit, but that doesn't mean that they have some special power, does it?"

Akili gave a wry smile. "Dragon Knights can indeed harness that. However, the warrior among the three heroes could harness not only the Dragon Spirit but the skills of all the other warrior paths as well. That, together with the unique skills that he created, made him the most powerful warrior to ever live. No one has ever come close to matching his strength."

"But what about priests, then? All priests learn to summon a dragon." Jasmine countered. Leo remembered the tiny blue dragon she had summoned in that very spot. Some of the firewood was still lying there.

"That is merely the magical energy of the priest summoning the dragon combined with the latent energies of a Summoning Rock, taking the form of a dragon. The true Draconian Skill for the priest is the Bahamut Dragon, which is the summoning of a huge red dragon. Now, the Draconian Skills alone do not grant absolute power. When the Draconian powers manifest, there is a massive boost in power, so much that it can burn out the person and kill them. However, if it is true that you two are indeed the descendants of the original three and you do manage to control them, you two may be the key to defeating Ergoth once and for all." Akili still did not look them in the eyes. Truth be told, his hopes were not high.

Neither Leo nor Jasmine said anything, so Akili continued.

"Look, just because I'm forced to betray you does not mean I want to continue doing it. Ergoth sacrificed his soul in exchange for the Dark powers of necromancy. He was stripped of his humanity and is nigh invulnerable. He suspects that you two are the people he needs to complete his ritual and has to procure your blood, whether you are dead or alive, in order to completely free Zakum and attain ultimate power. However, even at this stage, Zakum has allowed Ergoth access to some of its powers, in order to help him finish the ritual. Zakum itself wants to be free of the magical bindings as much as Ergoth wants to conquer Ossyria. This is why he is able to control not only the zombies but the wildlife as well. I want him dead as much as you do. Believe me." Akili looked straight into Leo's eyes now, completely sincere. However, Leo still felt like Akili was withholding something.

"Stop it, Akili." Jasmine spoke softly, thin streams of tears flowing down her face. "Stop it. I know you're not telling us everything."

"Jasmine, I-"

"Tell us, Akili!"

Akili's face was contorted with regret and pain. "I've told you, I'm bound to Ergoth. As much as I loath him and the idea of serving him, I have no choice. None."

Akili's hands sparkled suddenly with electrical energy, lightning crackling across his palms as he raised them with blinding speed.

"I'm sorry."

Jasmine raised her staff at the same instant Leo raised his spear, but it was futile. Akili's hands were positioned before either of them had reacted.

A tear ran down Akili's lined face as a bolt of lightning jumped from each extended palm, one aimed and Leo and the other at Jasmine, directly at the spot where the sniper had hit her with his Blizzard arrow. The bolts grew thinner as they sped toward Leo and Jasmine. For a split second, they were recognizable as spears.

Leo felt a burning pain strike his chest, searing through him like no weapon could. He could not tell what had happened to Jasmine. His insides burned as his limbs jerked with involuntary spasms. The Fairfrozen fell from his twitching fingers as he fought to keep conscious. As the entire spear entered his body, he fell to the ground as he felt his concentration fading.


	11. Escape

**Chapter 10: Escape **

Leo stirred. He sat up slowly, groaning and, feeling a searing pain in his chest, almost immediately crashed to the floor again.

"Finally awake, eh? It's been boring standing here with no one to talk to. It sucks to '_not let those two out of your sight_'. Ergoth needs to phrase his bleedin' commands better."

Leo rose slowly, his back arched in a way such that his chest was not strained. The flesh was red raw and the slightest of tension brought crippling pain to Leo. He opened his eyes, staring at the man before him. He felt a jolt as he recognized the cold, piercing eyes. The face had been wrapped loosely in bandages the previous time, but there was no mistaking the eyes.

His face contorted into a snarl "You!"

"I'm about as happy seeing you as you are me, and from your reaction that must be like being on cloud freakin' nine." The sniper spat, sneering in amusement.

Leo broke eye contact with the sniper, looking around. He was inside a rudimentary prison cell with stone walls of dull grey. There was a pile of dry straw on which he had been lying, serving as a makeshift bed. The sniper was standing behind bars of black iron, smirking at him like a crazed jackal his eyes filled with savage, sadistic pleasure, but at the same time, angry and accusatory.

His mind recalled the fierce battle, mental pictures of the green dragon, the cliff, the sniper's cold, dead eyes, Jasmine lying half dead in the snow…

Leo felt a surge of panic and he leapt to his feet. His chest burned like it was being scorched in a white-hot flame and he quickly sat down again. Massaging his wound, he practically shouted, "Where's Jasmine?"

"Relax, relax. She's in the cell next to yours."

Leo sighed in relief. "So… where are we, anyway?"

"Good question. I'd tell you, but honest to God, I have no idea. Ergoth teleported me here and told me to 'not let those two out of your sight'. He never said anything else, so I'm pretty much stuck here with you until he gets back. After that, he has plans for you two, of which I do not know anything. He can command anything of me, and yet never tells me anything, suspicious like hell about what I'll do with the information. Guy's freakin' paranoid, if you ask me. Not like I can betray him or anything."

"So it's true you're bound to him by blood?"

"Yeah, it's true. I know little of my past, other than that I was sold to him by my bloody parents. Makes him my surrogate father in that way, eh?" The sniper laughed darkly. "Mind you, don't run off with the idea that I do things for him simply because I have to."

"No?"

"No. Hell of a rewarding deal. I do Ergoth's heavy lifting, he keeps my powers augmented. In between, I do whatever I like. Accept assassination jobs, kill for the heck of it, beat up old ladies. Anything I feel like."

"Fool." Leo growled. "Have you any idea what he intends to do with us? With you?"

"Sure I do. He takes you and your little girlfriend and gives Zakum an early Christmas present, and I get paid like a crime boss on crack."

"Idiot. He needs the blood of all three of us. You included."

The sniper's eyes widened slightly. "Liar," he spat.

"We have to get out of here. Now."

"No."

"Is Ergoth really that great a master? Come on, let me out and help me rouse her. We really have to leave now. If you want to be free of Ergoth's will, we have to kill him, and I do not know how much of what Akili told us were lies, but according to him, Jasmine and I are the only hope for defeating Ergoth and Zak-"

"Akili, eh? Crafty bugger really knows how to compartmentalize information. He tells me something and he tells you something. What, does he expect us to piece this together like a jigsaw?"

"What did he tell you?"

"It's a lengthy, long-winded story, but, in essence, these powers I have apparently come from my lineage, some loony old nut who sealed Zakum in the past, and that you, your girlfriend and I are the only ones who can beat Ergoth with Zakum backing him, though if you think about it, I'm useless for that, seeing as I can't so much as begin to attack Ergoth before he commands me to stab myself or something."

"So you'll help us get out of here?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions now. No one said anything about that. Far as I know, he could be doing this so he can kill me off and claim credit for you two and take my place on Ergoth's right-hand side, so why the hell should I trust him? More to the point, I can't do anything to get you out of here, even if I wanted to."

"Well, we can try!"

"Well too bad for you. We're trapped in a stone jail with a magic barrier over it, and unless you can break that barrier and she," he motioned to an area to Leo's left that he could not see. "wakes up to 'port us the hell out of here, we're pretty much queued for death like pigs in a slaughterhouse. So just shut up already, why don't you."

Leo was losing his temper. "Idiot! How dense can you get? Why do you think Ergoth is so determined to get us? He wants our power! What makes you think he won't take yours as well?"

The sniper seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second. "I… I'm like a son to him! He taught me everything I knew as a child, raised me like his own. Even as the years rolled by, his form grew less and less human, but he never changed in my eyes!"

"So what did he do when you told him you failed to get us?"

The sniper narrowed his eyes. His fingers twitched and his hand moved, ever so slightly, toward his chest before he let it fall limp again. "None of your business, knight."

Leo smirked. He had taken the bait. "Struck a nerve, have I? What did he do? Stab you? Burn you? Not something very fatherly, was it?"

"It doesn't matter now. If he really is going to kill us there's nothing we can do."

"Don't change the subject."

"It would have been nothing if I'd gotten you! For some reason you seem to be more important to him than anything else right now!" The sniper shouted, glaring at Leo with unreasonable rage.

"So you want us to just go along and let you take us to our deaths? Is human life nothing to you?"

"He'd never done something like that before!"

"You're pathetic. You do everything he tells you and he beats you like a dog, yet you're still trying to defend him?"

"HE ELECTROCUTED ME, OKAY?"

The sniper tore off his snow-white shirt, revealing a shiny burn right in the middle of his chest. It was not unlike the one upon Leo's own. He drew a sharp breath. Of all things, he hadn't expected that.

The sniper breathed heavily for a while, then spoke again, softly this time. "Enough. My turn. What did Akili tell you?"

"Not much you haven't already heard. Ergoth will be able to attain the full scale of Zakum's power if he sacrifices us. That means you, since it was three people who sealed Zakum. Jasmine and myself have Draconian powers, but ours have not manifested. As for you, he told us that you have full control over your powers."

"He'd… He'd kill… me. But I'm… like his…"

"Grow up. We're talking about power most daren't even dream of. The powers of a god. Anyone would kill for it. Another murder? He's pushed the boundaries of humanity so much, human lives are nothing more than a statistic to him now."

Leo swore silently. Stubborn idiot. "I don't suppose you know anything more?"

"I know what Zakum's power can do. If Ergoth absorbs its power, he will gain the ability to warp the fabric of time and space. Those with the Draconian powers are immune to the warp, because the vestiges of the initial sealing spell remain in our blood. While we live, Zakum cannot release full potential. Akili also did mention that… it's possible to yield one's power to another, though it will consume whatever remains of his life force and burn him out."

Leo smiled slightly. "Change of heart?"

"Not exactly. But the truth is, Ergoth can be ruthless, heartless. He's power-mad too, so, in retrospect it's not ridiculous to think he'd… kill me for that. What you said did make sense. What Akili said fits too. And Ergoth has been getting… distant. He hasn't hesitated to punish me severely for many small things recently. Perhaps he is trying to distance himself from me, so that when the time comes, he will have an easier time killing me."

The sniper stepped back into the shadow, folding his arms across his chest. Leo slumped back against the wall. This conversation was over and he knew it. He just hoped he had said enough to change the sniper's mind.

How many hours had passed since that conversation? Leo began to lose hope. At least Jasmine had recovered. They had talked for a short while. She had said she was fine, but Leo wondered how badly Akili had hurt her. There was a sudden shuffling sound. Leo looked up in surprise. Faint mutterings were coming from the bars. Perhaps he was going mad, but the bars seemed to shimmer for a moment, glowing with a ghostly blue, and then they faded. The sniper walked into his cell.

"Come on now. Do you want to get out of here or not?"

Leo walked out as the sniper moved over the Jasmine's cell, muttering the same wordless chants. As soon as they faded into nothingness, Leo rushed into the cell, embracing Jasmine tightly. "Jasmine… Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She said nothing more, but clung tighter to Leo.

"I don't mean to intrude on your little emotional moment here," the sniper interjected. "but weren't you the one who was rushing me? Ergoth is probably already coming here. We need to move if we are to move at all."

He pulled Leo's spear and Jasmine's staff, seemingly out of nowhere and threw them both to them. Leo caught the Fairfrozen deftly between two fingers, spinning it in an arc to regain familiarity of its weight. He just hoped that with Jasmine's magic incapacitated, they would still find a way out.

The entire jail seemed like a huge maze, with twisting tunnels and random dead ends. Leo stated to wonder if they would ever get out. There was a weak gust of wind. The tunnel seemed to be ending. The three of them broke into a run at the same instant, exiting the narrow tunnel into a wider cavern. Another dungeon. Relief from the claustrophobic confines of the tunnel was instantly replaced by dread. There was a sudden loud crack and a chill ran down Leo's spine. A maroon-cloaked figure had materialized out of nowhere. He felt something rush past to his right and he turned, but saw nothing. The sniper had vanished.

"Hello, Leo, Jasmine. Looks like you escaped the cell. Tell me, where is Mortis? He's been a burden lately. First, I have to applaud you for breaking out. That's a first, for sure. My spells and enchantments are quite good, you know, if I do say so myself."

Ergoth was a far more menacing threat in person than when they had first seen his image when the Holy Stone projected it. There was something in his raspy, rattling voice that seemed so calm and so deadly. Like a snake before its prey. The threat of imminent death paired with the casual tone in which Ergoth spoke did not bode well. Leo stepped back slightly, pulling Jasmine behind him to shield her from Ergoth's first attack.

Seeing that Leo did not speak, Ergoth continued. "Enough though. You two have caused me quite an annoyance already. It would save me so much trouble if I were to just kill you off now." Ergoth's jaw pulled into a skeletal grin. He raised a deathly thin hand, and a flame sparked to life in his palm.

"Looks like Zakum will be getting an early sacrifice." A blast of fire issued from the tiny flame, growing in size as it rushed toward Leo. Even from a distance, he felt the intense heat upon his face as the tongue of flame rushed forward to consume him.

Leo had no time to pull his shield out. He held his stance, raising the spear. He readied his legs to leap away at the right moment, hoping Jasmine would do the same. There was a strong blast of air from behind him and he had to turn around. Jasmine stood bathed in golden light, spreading and encompassing them both in a wall of holy energy. Where the fire struck the barrier, it spread like a flower and dissipated.

Leo could have sworn he saw Ergoth's empty eyes narrow. "So your powers have manifested at last. Let us test their capabilities then."

Ergoth raised his staff in one hand, waving his other over the Drake skull mounted on his staff. The crimson gem set into it glowed, bathing the entire cavern in a hellish red tint. The ground around Ergoth split, sending gigantic crevices spider-webbing across the floor. Huge arcs of lightning sprung from them, striking the golden barrier like a whip and shattering it into millions of glass-like shards. The remains of the barrier faded as fire and lightning rocketed towards Leo and Jasmine.

Leo was behind Jasmine now. As the barrier fell, wings of gold sprouted from her back, shielding her from the blasts. The flames and bolts broke upon the feathers of light. The power coursing through her felt natural. Primal. She was relying on her instincts now. Self-preservation and protection of Leo was first-priority. Nothing else mattered.

She held up her palms, gathering pure energy into two orbs. She struck them together, firing a beam of light the same instant one of darkness was launched from Ergoth's staff. The two collided, and for a second, seemed to be fighting for dominion before exploding into a rain of energy, the forces of darkness and light reacting violently.

Dust and rocks were thrown everywhere by the flare. The entire jail complex seemed to shake on its foundations. Jasmine raised her hand again, another barrier of light forming, warmer and stronger than before, protecting Leo and herself from harm. Debris bounced harmlessly off the shield.

The dust cleared. Ergoth was still standing, barely shaken and without a scratch. His staff was already raised, sending a new wave of projectiles hurtling toward Jasmine. Without time to react, the first balls of energy hit Jasmine, sending her sprawling backwards. Barely fazed, her shining wings steadied her. She was airborne. She felt another surge of energy in her core. As her body reached the limit, it glowed even brighter, and then she seemed to explode.

Jasmine's glowing form rose above Leo's head. Columns of light flew in every direction, crashing through the ceiling and walls and creating explosions where they struck, barely missing even Leo as he was forced to roll sideways to avoid them. Jasmine did not seem to have any idea of the chaos she was causing.

_She's going to kill us all. _

Though the beams seemed to be flying in random directions, most of them were focused on Ergoth.

As suddenly as it had started, it was over. The gold light faded and the cavern, seconds ago filled with both golden and crimson light, now reflected only the latter. Jasmine's wings had gone too, her body returning to normalcy as she plummeted to the ground. Leo rushed forward to catch her. Her breathing was irregular and she seemed barely conscious.

"My god… Say something!"

There was a chilling cackle. The smoke thinned. Their problems were far from over. Ergoth hardly seemed damaged in the least.

"Pathetic. I was hoping for a challenge. No matter, it was a good effort, my dear. I'm surprised and impressed that you were able to hold that form for so long. After all, I doubt you've ever done anything like it before." There was a hint of mocking amusement in his voice.

Leo's instincts screamed to run, but his heart begged to stay. He could not leave Jasmine here. There was nothing left to do but hope.

A small spark ignited an ember in Ergoth's palm, a roaring ball of flames appearing from nowhere. Leo smelt the pungent smell of burning cloth and smoldering metal. Ergoth pulled the fireball back for a second, then hurled it at them. His skeletal mouth pulled into a grin. The fireball split into four separate smaller balls, flying in different directions. Leo cursed silently. Two were fast approaching on either side, one rising above the rest, preventing him from making an aerial escape. The last was aimed straight at him.

Leo braced for the impact. The air grew hotter each second, but suddenly, the intense heat was replaced by a draft of cool air. Ice crystals raced from above, striking each fireball squarely in the middle and dissolving them into steam.

Ergoth's face contorted in fury, a livid fire igniting in his dead eyes. "TRAITOROUS SCU-" A green dragon's head formed out of light cut off his speech, slamming him backwards into the wall with a resounding crash.

The sniper landed cleanly on his feet in front of Leo. He pulled Jasmine to her feet and grabbed her shoulders. "Jasmine, are you able to teleport us out of here? I've checked the magic barrier. It was broken by your spell, whatever it was that let all hell break free. We have little time. The Pulse will not hold Ergoth back for much longer. It won't take him forever to dig himself out of the rubble."

Jasmine nodded mutely. She held Leo's hand, taking hold of the sniper's as well. A light blue glow appeared around them in a ring and they were gone. Half a second later, the pile of rock behind them had exploded and Ergoth's screams of rage echoed throughout the entire jail.

Leo was well used to the sensation by now. When the light faded, he found himself standing on a barren plateau of rock, the same dull gray as the walls of the jail. Evidently, they were no longer in the El Nath wilderness.

_Where are we?_

Leo pushed the thought away as he realized he did not care. All that matter to him now was how Jasmine was. Jasmine lay on the ground in front of him, the sniper kneeling next to her and tending to her wounds. Her cheeks flushed with color as she downed the elixir he had given her. Leo extended a hand and pulled her shakily to her feet.

"This isn't right," she said softly. "This isn't El Nath."

"Well that much is obvious."

"But I meant for us to return to El Nath when I teleported us out of the jail. Never mind though. At the very least, we're all safe. For now."

She gave the sniper a weak but appreciative smile. "I owe you my thanks, sniper. You have saved our lives. We owe them to you."

The sniper flashed a grin. "No you don't. I tried to take them away from you up in the mountains. Consider that debt repaid. And please, don't be so formal." The sniper turned to Leo and offered a handshake.

"My name is Mortis Angelus. Friends may call me Angel. Are you a friend, Leo?"


End file.
